Brazil

Forest Lessons, “Tarzan,” and…a Caiman?!

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Our second day at the jungle lodge was pretty busy. We started the day with a hike into the jungle led by our guides Lima and Rivelino, who we later nicknamed “Tarzan” due to his extraordinary strength and agility. During the hike, our guides taught us some survival skills and showed us how to make some crafts.

After the hike, we returned to the lodge for lunch and some relaxation before taking to the waters again to explore more of the igapó and watch the sunset at the end of the day. As if that wasn’t enough excitement, we took the boats out again after dinner and went out searching for alligators. We ended up with quite a surprise.

This is one of the longer videos in this series at nine minutes, but I hope you stick around until the end. With Halloween upon us, there are some elements that I find quite fitting. I had so much fun filming and editing this piece of a most extraordinary adventure. I hope you’re enjoying this series. The best is still yet to come.

The Amazon Jungle Lodge

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After the three day jungle river cruise, my friends and I hopped on a shuttle for a two-hour ride to the drop-off point to catch a speed boat that took us to our next stop, the Amazon jungle lodge, where we would spend the next five days. Words cannot accurately describe how magnificent and peaceful this place was, so I’ll just show you.

Arts, Crafts and Luru

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On the last day of our Amazon jungle river cruise, we visited an indigenous community where they made arts and crafts for us to see how they were made. Many of these arts and crafts were available for purchase afterwards and we also saw them in the stores that we visited in the Amazon. It was so nice to see how those beautiful items were skillfully crafted and put on display. We also had the pleasure of meeting the parrot, Luru, who provided us with lots of great entertainment.

I want to give a special shout out to my friends Eduardo and Leigh of 1000 Treks for putting this trip together. I met Eduardo about 10 years ago in his hiking group and then began training with him in his fitness Boot Camp so that I could prepare to climb Kilimanjaro with his group. I ended up having to cancel on Kilimanjaro due to an injury, but I stayed in touch with Eduardo and went on some other adventures with his group over the years. I had always wanted to go on one of his trips abroad and was so happy I got this experience.

“Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkeys!”

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On this day of our jungle river cruise, we started with a nice, healthy breakfast and went on a canoe to explore more of the Igapó, or flooded forest. When we arrived back at our boat dock, we saw a monkey playing nearby and checking us out, so we went to have a look. Suddenly, we found ourselves surrounded by monkeys and hilarity ensued!

Jungle Cruise – The Indian Village

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On the second day of the Amazon jungle cruise, we went to visit an Indian village. Because their small dock couldn’t accommodate our large boat, we were shuttled to the community in a smaller boat in groups of 10 at a time. Once we arrived at the village, we were welcomed and treated to a ritual of music and dance.

Afterwards, we got to play with some of their pets, like a sweet little furry sloth. I had always wanted to meet a sloth. Those creatures are so huggable and lovable. They just latch onto you and make you feel all warm and fuzzy. We also had the opportunity to try some roasted termites, which I passed on, but the Brazilian nuts were great!

Swimming with Pink Dolphins

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My first stop on the Amazon jungle river cruise was to meet snd swim with dolphins. But these weren’t just any dolphins, they were pink dolphins, and pretty magnificent albeit a little odd. These pink dolphins make their home in the Amazon River, so in this part of the world, it’s quite acceptable to see these beauties happily swimming in the river, eager to meet new human friends.

South America – Off to the Amazon

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Well, hello. I’m back. It’s been a while, but I’m here again and will be posting more consistently because I have so much to share. I’ve been quite busy over the last year and have done quite a bit of traveling. I spent most of July in Brazil, my first ever trip to South America, and it was the adventure of a lifetime.

I realized I haven’t done anything with the more than 200 videos I recorded on that trip. I’ve posted a few short ones on other channels, but that was it. My intention of recording these videos was to put together a full documentary of the adventure, making it into a series. So here it is, the first episode, and the beginning of my adventures in the Amazon jungle, starting with a three-day jungle river cruise.